Explore These Digital Marketing Trends as You Plan for 2021

For most people, it’s impossible to predict how COVID-19 will affect the future. We know for sure though that the retail landscape has been dramatically transformed, with customers forging new shopping habits and re-organizing their expectations of brands. In this same vein, Digital Marketing is evolving to meet these demands with campaigns designed to fit the new reality we all currently experience. But outside of the influence of lockdowns and social distancing, there are marketing trends that have emerged this year and will stick with us for the foreseeable future. Let’s have a look at some of them: 

• VIDEO MARKETING/ADVERTISING 

The first thing to understand about live videos is there’s almost no learning curve to recording one and putting it out there. In a period where more people felt the need to be seen, the use of live video streaming through social media has ballooned. It is currently the easiest and most used form of content. 

According to a roundup of data from social media sites including Facebook & Twitch, there has been a 99% increase in growth in hours of live stream video watched between April 2019 and April 2020. 80% of consumers also now prefer live videos to blog posts. These are essential data points that highlight the gradual shift of the online market towards this form of advertising. For marketers, it’s easy to understand its appeal. 

First of all the live video streaming market is expected to hit $184.3 billion by 2027. Live videos are also more timely, and again, does not need a high level of expertise to set up. Live streaming video can be used in a variety of capacities; all highly dependent on your brand goals and content strategy. It is however ideal for engagements with an audience, live events, etc.

• VOICE SEARCH 

Tech firms have since been on the line to provide humans with their interpretation of voice-powered AIs; from Microsoft’s Cortana and Amazon’s Alexa. This is mainly due to the rapid pace at which virtual digital assistants are being used, and the increasing number of people who agree it is a part of their everyday lives. We can argue about the effectiveness of this strategy in Africa as the adoption of voice search in Nigeria and other African countries hasn’t really taken off, but I strongly believe that some businesses might find it relevant as an increasing number of people in Lagos are already adopting and loving this feature.  Google reports 27% of the online global population is using voice search on mobile. What does this mean for marketing?  

Well, think about the difference between what we search on Google, and how we tend to phrase that when we use Siri. For example, a person looking for the nearest ofada joint might type “ofada restaurant Lagos” into Google, but might ask Siri, “what’s the best ofada rice restaurant in Ikeja?”. This is instructive for bloggers and content writers who should develop content keywords that answer specific questions. In an age where SEO may start to favour long-tail keywords, this can increase visibility in both the short & long term. 

• ALTERNATIVE INFLUENCER MARKETING 

In Nigeria, brands have come to rely on established influencers to advertise their product on social networks and, at the same time, the use of paid advertisement on these platforms. According to a Dotts Media House survey In 2018, more than 40% of influencers confirm that they make at least 500,000 Naira from campaigns executed individually. Over 70% of brands now reach their target audience through influencer marketing, using the leverage social media platforms provide. 

People like to hate on influencers, but they’re effective. And over the last three years, there’s been a 1500% increase in brands searching for “influencer marketing” on Google. Influencers are here to stay. But as we enter into 2021, we may begin to see big influencers lose their grip on their followers for various reasons.

The most predictable shift will be in the rise of micro-influencers. A perception survey of influencer marketing shows that consumers believe that the smaller the community, the greater the influence. An Adweek report also proves that Instagram followers with <1,000 followers have a like rate of about 8% while those with 1,000 - 10,000 have a rate of around 4%. As the follower rate grows, engagement drops even further. Micro-influencers have small yet loyal followings (anything less than 10,000 followers), which means they are much closer to the consumers. The lack of reach is also replaced with niche value, high engagement, and affordability.

Ultimately, the changes in this space will be dictated by consumers. It’s also possible that we’ll see an increase in performance-based influencer marketing. In the past, it’s always been sort of a flat fee deal. Businesses pay per post and the influencer gets the same amount of money no matter what happens on the engagement front. But as the influencer arena gets more competitive, brands will gain more leverage. Soon, we could see payment based on the number of clicks, comments, or even sales.

Followers make it clear what they do and don’t respond to by the type of engagement they offer. As brands and influencers gather more data and analytics from these types of posts, they’ll iterate and zero in on what works best.

• INTERACTIVE CONTENT

Of all the digital marketing trends in the last few years, social media contests have proved more effective for audience engagement during campaigns. On top of that, they also promote customer buy-in. 

Research shows that interactive content gains 2X more engagement than static content. This has led 34% of marketers to include interactive content in at least 10% of their strategies. The most popular types of interactive content include quizzes, polls, interactive infographics, AR, VR, and online calculators.

Ask yourself. Who doesn’t love free stuff or some form of incentive? Contests provide that little push to an audience that’s already cheering for you. But you have to be honest and ethical while running a social media contest. Else, it’ll only be detrimental for your brand.

• USER GENERATED CONTENT 

A high-powered tool for your website is user-generated content. It helps with SEO and enhances the user experience when appropriately moderated. A common misconception about UGC that most marketers have is that it needs to be intensive or complicated. That isn’t the case.

User-generated content could be something as small as comments on blogs or product reviews on your website. UGC is one of the digital marketing trends that’ll rage in 2021 simply because it gets created by the users or customers of a brand.